News from the Hilltop

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Birmingham-Southern College Concert Choir, conducted by Lester Seigel, who is the Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music at BSC, has recently returned from its first European tour in more than 20 years. The 26 singers performed in the Czech Republic and Austria earlier this summer.

The program featured unusual works by Czech and Austrian composers and a selection of outstanding American works. Performances included stops at St. Nicholas Church in Prague, Czech Republic; Renaissance Town Hall in Pilsen, Czech Republic; Karlskirche, St. Charles Church, in Vienna, Austria; and the Palace Chapel, Esterhazy Palace, Eisenstadt, in Austria.

The tour was planned in part to further the sister city relationship between Pilsen and Birmingham. The college has established a relationship with the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. Professor Jan Vicar of Prague, who taught at BSC as a visiting professor of music in 2006, assisted with arrangements.

In addition to these public performances, the choir visited Terezin near Prague, which is the site of the infamous Nazi concentration camp. There the men of the choir performed an impromptu concert on the grounds of the camp, including Czech songs composed by Gideon Klein, an inmate of the camp, which were performed there in the 1940s. The group also appeared in Clam-Galas Palace in Prague, where the choir was invited by the U.S. ambassador to perform as part of the opening ceremonies for an art exhibit titled “Views of Chicago.”